The Search for Non-equilibrium States in Chemical Reaction Networks

One of history's biggest questions is how did life begin and what was the mechanism? Several recent approaches to the origin of life focus on the emergence of a non-equilibrium steady state. Here we investigate this problem by defining arbitrary chemical reaction networks and the chemical master equation that governs their evolution. The chemical master equation is specialized to a large volume limit to obtain the reaction rate equations. Data is taken from existing literature; corresponding reaction rate equations are then numerically solved. This is where the steady states are revealed - it is expected that after long times, there would be a stratification in the concentration time plots. Steady states for closed and driven (open) systems are examined. In the latter a transition from equilibrium to non-equilibrium is observed, in accordance with the flux of reaction, just like how living organisms may have emerged.